New York City’s Electric School Bus Mandate Won’t Impact Climate Change (Your Letters)

To the editor:

It’s refreshing to know that some school districts have voters with the common sense to put their limited resources toward issues that could make a difference in climate change, like further developing renewable energy sources (wind, solar, geothermal, etc.) — or simply buying food for the family — rather than spending those funds on electric school buses. (“New York’s School Bus Dilemma: Some Voters Hit the Brakes to Switch to Electric Vehicles,” July 29, 2024).

We, the 20 million New Yorkers, should continue to oppose these types of programs and policies and regulations (like the ban on gas stoves!) that will cost each and every one of us money but will have little impact on climate change. Many of the 8 billion people on this planet will continue to rely on organic sources for cooking, heating, driving, and survival. They have little access to the electrical infrastructure that will allow them to do otherwise.

Our own infrastructure may not support the change some envision without expensive upgrades. We definitely need to be a little cautious about paying for first-class accommodations on the climate change train, as Bjorn Lomborg notes in an Aug. 1 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, “Polar Bears, Dead Coral and Other Climate Fictions.” It notes that many of the dire predictions promoted by the climate lobby simply aren’t true.

Renewables are good, and with time and good policy we will get there. Liquidating our oil and gas infrastructure in New York with expensive legislation and regulations may please climate change enthusiasts and their political cronies, but it will do nothing for climate change itself.

Dr. David J. Seeley

Manlius